EU: Environment Council

Baroness Verma: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Davey) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	My noble friend Lord De Mauley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Resource Management, the Local Environment and Environmental Science, and I will attend EU Environment Council in Brussels on 21 March. Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Environment and Climate Change in the Scottish Government, will also attend.
	Following the adoption of the agenda and the approval of the list of "A" items, the presidency will hold an orientation debate on a proposal relating to biofuels and indirect land-use change. The presidency has suggested questions to frame the discussion and encourage views on the effectiveness of the proposal. The UK supports the introduction of indirect land-use change factors into the renewables directive and the fuel quality directive, which would allow all emissions attributable to a given biofuel feedstock to be taken into account when determining which biofuels should be supported. This was discussed at Energy Council in Brussels on 22 February.
	The next orientation debate will be on a proposal to amend the directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (known as the EIA directive). The European Commission adopted its proposal to amend the EIA directive on 26 October 2012. The intended purpose of the new proposal is to streamline the environmental impact assessment process and to introduce provisions which will reduce the number of environmental assessments that are undertaken unnecessarily. The orientation debate will seek a ministerial steer on proposals for a one-stop-shop for assessments under different European legislation, the use of accredited experts, and mandatory scoping of the content of environmental reports.
	Over lunch, Ministers will have the opportunity to exchange views on the Commission communication, A Decent Life for All: Ending poverty and giving the world a sustainable future. This communication proposes a common approach to the implementation of the millennium development goals, the post-2015 development agenda, and the implementation of the Rio+20 outcome document. These issues were considered at an informal meeting of Development Ministers on 11 and 12 February.
	In the afternoon, there will be an orientation debate on the access and benefit sharing of genetic resources file. The presidency has proposed two questions to steer further work. Ministers will discuss the balance of obligations on users of genetic resources and how effectively the proposed regulation will fulfil the requirements of the Nagoya protocol.
	The Commission will then present its report on the broad-based review of the REACH regulation, published in February 2013, and its communication on the second regulatory review of nanomaterials, published in October 2012. This will be followed by an exchange of views on the main findings of the Commission's reviews. It is expected that the debate will focus on ways of reducing the regulatory burden on SMEs, the early signs of benefits accruing to human health and the environment, and the extent to which REACH provides an adequate regulatory framework for nanomaterials.
	The following topics will be covered under any other business:
	information from the presidency and the Commission on international meetings and events; and information from the Commission on EU ETS/Aviation.